Asa`s Whitmer Preaches Softball Revival

Ron Whitmer remembers all too well the first time he tried to play slow- pitch softball.

There he was, a former baseball player at Mount Union College in Ohio, hobnobbing with a bunch of misfit softball types several years ago. He only joined them as a favor.

Whitmer envisioned himself as a savior for these perennial losers, someone to show them how to play the game. Never mind that he hadn`t played slow-pitch. He figured hitting that big looping ball had to be easier than taking cuts at a curveball.

``I thought anybody could hit that thing,`` said Whitmer from his desk at Holiday Park. He drew a big arc with his right hand. ``But I made a fool of myself.``

Whitmer took three earnest but futile cuts at that softball, then took his seat on the bench, humiliated. His teammates jeered him. It crossed Whitmer`s mind never to play the stupid game again. Lucky for Broward County he did.

In late December, Whitmer was named to succeed Broward Community College`s R.L. Landers as the Amateur Softball Association District IV commissioner, in charge of operations in St. Lucie, Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, Okeechobee, Broward and Monroe counties.

The ASA is one of several organizations across the country that claims to regulate amateur softball. Two of them -- the ASA and the United States Slo- pitch Softball Association -- comprise most of the country`s softball teams.

Twenty years ago, when slow-pitch softball was a game for older men and beer drinkers, the ASA dominated the softball world. Thousands would turn out across the country to watch ASA state, regional and national fast-pitch tournaments. And if there happened to be a slow-pitch league in town, the ASA controlled it, too.

But, as the lure of the long ball drew even the best athletes into slow-pitch softball, the ASA was challenged by the USSSA. Today, ASA and USSSA tournaments draw nearly the same amount of teams. Whitmer, who has worked for the ASA the last three years, said the old excitement has left the game.

``My biggest goal is to build up the ASA tournaments so there`s some excitement involved,`` said Whitmer, an adult recreation specialist for the City of Fort Lauderdale. ``Sometimes all it takes to qualify for a state tournament is to want to go.``

Last year, for instance, Whitmer`s Broward Sports team made it to the ASA slow-pitch state tournament. It was a good team, Whitmer said, but didn`t have to prove its worth to make it to state. Only two other teams wanted to go.

``Something`s either wrong with the system,`` he said, ``or we`re getting the information to the wrong people.``

Despite the ASA`s trouble getting teams into its tournaments, Whitmer said his programs in Fort Lauderdale have rarely had more people involved. Programs in Coral Springs and Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek report the same boom. That makes the ASA`s tournament trouble doubly frustrating for Whitmer, and underlines the competition between the ASA and the USSSA.

``There`s really no major competition between them and us,`` Whitmer said. ``The only time we compete is at tournament time. And they`ve got some advantages there.``

The USSSA holds what it calls ``World Tournaments`` and ``World Qualifying Tournaments.`` Whitmer said the lure to call yourself a world champion or an All-American is sometimes too tempting for the ASA to compete against.

``The market is wide open,`` Whitmer said. ``That`s why there are so many organizations. There are more facilities, more people, more tournaments. I think it kind of dilutes the meaning of a national championship.

``The ASA is more of a grass-roots organization. It provides something for the team that has no interest in national or world tournaments. League teams, more often than not, register with the ASA.``

Both the ASA and the USSSA hold traditional views on fast-pitch and slow- pitch softball. One group, the Independent Softball Association, has proposed stolen bases for slow-pitch and another association has sought to eliminate a ball-strike umpire for its game.

Whitmer said he`s not about to tamper with the game in his first year as a district commissioner, but he`s always willing to listen to someone with a better idea.

Judging by the lack of fast-pitch teams in South Florida (only a handful play true fast-pitch in ASA District IV), the game may be on its way to extinction. But Whitmer would like to see it come back. That way he wouldn`t have to play that confounded slow-pitch anymore.